Instinct Sucks
by HarryPotter'sgirl17
Summary: It's hard to teach someone to defend themselves when your first instinct is for *you* to protect *them*...


_A/N: Nope, not a new chapter on one of my old stories, but a brand new story. My brain never seems to want to work with me..._

Derek Hale did not know what deity or higher being he had managed to piss off, but he really liked to give him/her/it a piece of his mind...

Never mind the fact that the first girl he fell in love with turned out to be a raging psychotic _bitch _who _**betrayed **_him, never mind the fact that his entire family was _**burned alive **_while he and his sister were at school, never mind the fact that same sister was _killed _by an uncle he thought was _**stuck in a coma **_after barely escaping the fire that killed everyone else, and never mind the fact that he had to deal with a _whiny_, self absorbed little _brat _that treated the Bite like it was some kind of _**burden**_.

What was really pissing Derek off and showing him just how far he had come from when he was a Beta himself, was that same whiny, self absorbed brat's best friend; one annoying human boy by the name of Stiles Stilinski.

There were times when Derek was sorely tempted to just knock the boy out, more to give him a few seconds peace from the wolf howling in his head than to shut the kid up, although that wasn't too bad an idea either...

The reason for this was simple; as soon as he had laid eyes on the scrawny, breakable human, his wolf had immediately started up a mantra of '_mine, mine, mine, mine_, **Mine**, _**MINE**_!' that had made him snap at the two, instead of offering assistance as soon as he realized that one of them smelled of Pack. Now, every time he was around Stiles, he had to fight the urge to jump the boy's bones right then and there, making their interactions a little less than civil.

Stiles did absolutely nothing to help him, either; he always was inserting himself into Pack business and sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted, making Derek pissed as all hell because ever since Scott had been turned, it seemed like werewolves and other monsters of lore were popping out of the woodwork. Stiles was a _human_, for Christ's sake! One good hit from _**anything **_and the boy would be a pile of bones!

True, the boy didn't know that he had been Recognized by Derek's wolf, but even _common sense _said that the further away he was from the Pack-and especially Derek, even if the thought made his wolf whine in pain-the better off he was...

Thus the reason for his irritation now; Scott had finally picked up on the fact that his friend was not going to listen when he was told to stay somewhere and had asked Derek to let the boy in on their training sessions. Peter had made a snide comment about how fast the boy would be broken and Derek had to fight down the wolf's urge to defend his 'mate' so much that he missed Scott's rebuttal, but whatever it was, it had shut Peter up.

Now, here he was, in a tree and watching as Stiles hit the ground hard enough to bruise for what could have been the hundredth time that day. The sad part was that Derek was not exaggerating; Peter had wandered off to do who-knows-what after the first fifty and the rest of the Pack had handed Stiles off to Issac after the next ten.

Taking a quick look at how the others were doing, Derek suppressed a smirk at the fact that Scott and Jackson had once again gone from fighting as werewolves to a normal human scuffle, rolling around in the leaves that blanketed the forest floor, Jackson's girlfriend watching it all with a mildly disinterested air.

Yet again, another person that Derek found slightly irritating, but for a completely different reason; he couldn't quite get a read on her, which bugged the hell out of him, and was a little impressed by how well she had handled the whole 'your-boyfriend-is-a-creature-of-lore-and-so-are-a-few-of-your-friends' thing. Other than yelling at them for a bit for leaving her in the dark, she had hopped on board the 'creature of the night' train and started showing up for practices, a moonstruck Stiles in tow.

Brought back to the boy that was occupying more of his thoughts then he was comfortable with, and yet another reason that this whole 'Stiles-being-his-mate' thing sucks, Derek turned his gaze back to the pair just in time to see Issac slam Stiles to the forest floor yet again.

"Come on, Stilinski, you're not even trying!" Issac grinned, reaching down and hefting the smaller boy up, "What happened to the guy that threatened to turn me into a fur coat and give it to Lydia if I 'so much as touched one hair on her perfect head'?"

Intrigued despite himself, and annoyed at yet another reason why he was going to have to live through hell for the next few days, Derek paid more attention to the pair beneath him and ignored the fact that Lydia was yelling at the other two to 'stop acting like children and start acting like adults!' and even starting hitting them herself, if the yelps were anything to go by...

"Well, yeah, I thought that you were going to hurt her then, now you're just a friend of mine that occasionally turns into something that could tear my throat out if I piss him off," was Stiles oh-so-cheerful reply, making Derek drop his head in frustration as he tried to ignore the headache that was now building behind his eyes, "and since I can't even keep up with you now, let's keep the furry experience for later, 'kay?"

Issac laughs at this and Derek can't stand it anymore, it's too much to take with everything else that's going on, so he drops down out of the tree with a resounding thump that causes Issac to roll his eyes and Stiles to jump in surprise. Grinning slightly at the predictable reaction, which causes Stiles' throat to bob as he swallows, Derek stalks over to the pair, jerking his head at the sounds behind him.

"Go make sure that Jackson and Scott don't kill each other, or Lydia. I'll take care of Stiles," Derek's comment causes Stiles' Adam apple to bob again, not to mention his heartbeat to skyrocket, which almost makes Derek break out into a full grin. If he's going to be miserable, why not have someone else be miserable as well?

Issac knows what this really is about; he can smell it, see it, and sense it. Every one of the wolves can, only Scott-oblivious idiot that he is-can't pinpoint exactly who it is that is making Derek completely insane, half of which is that he's still panting over Allison and the other half is that he probably doesn't want to consider the fact that his Alpha is lusting after his best friend.

Derek comes back to the present when Issac brushes by him with a 'Try not to break him.' and a grin, making Derek growl and his eyes glow an ominous red in warning, which in turn causes Issac to bow his head in apology. Satisfied that his message had been received, Derek turned back to Stiles...

...who looked like Issac just left him alone with the Devil, all with a smile and a wave.

"Well, that was fun," Stiles immediately starts babbling as soon as he realizes that he is, indeed, left alone with Derek freaking Hale, and that there is no one in sight that can save him from the Alpha that has been acting screwy for the past few days. "I think I've done enough training for today, so I'm going to see what Jackson and Scott are up to-"

"Stiles?"

"...Yes?"

Eyes glow red, a feral smiles spreads his lips. "Run."

The teenager needs no second telling and is off through the undergrowth, much like a gazelle upon seeing a lion and Derek, even more pleased than normal with the imagery that thought pulls up, takes off after him. He hears the others hollering behind him, Issac trying to calm them down and explain, but he tunes them out and takes after the red hoodie disappearing through the trees.

Stiles is quick, Derek will give him that, but the wolf inside him is reveling in the fact that he is finally able to pursue it's mate-although a little more literally than one would think-and that gives Derek an added boost of speed that has him behind Stiles in minutes.

Derek pulls his tackle so that Stiles hits the ground with a little less force than he would have had the Alpha decided to listen to his wolf and claim the boy right there... As it is, Stiles only let out a hearty 'oof!' as Derek pinned him to the forest floor, growling as he brings his mouth to the shell of Stiles' ear...

He smells frustration, anger, fear, sweat and... _**arousal**_?!

"You're dead." Derek's voice sounds more breathy then he would have liked, but the fact that he can smell arousal coming from the boy beneath him has thrown him more than a little bit, so he could always pass that off as not completely catching his breath if Stiles decides to bring that up...

"Holy God, get off of me!" Stiles, thankfully, has other things on his mind as he scrabbles to get out from underneath of the older boy, causing certain parts of his anatomy to be brushed up against Derek's, making him bite back a moan and hastily follow the teenager's orders before things got **really **embarrassing. "What the hell, man? Do you get a kick out of scaring the shit out of me or something?!"

Derek was torn halfway between informing the boy that scaring him wasn't the _only _thing that was going on and just giving into his wolf, pressing his lips against Stiles until the teenager pushed him away or gave in to what Derek now knew they **both** felt before reality decided to reassert itself in the form of Scott catching up to the two of them and inserting himself between the pair.

A growl slips past Derek's lips before he can catch it and Scott, now deciding to be a **suicidal **oblivious fool, growls in response as he shifts into his wolf form. This causes Derek's wolf to push forward in anger and for once, Derek agrees with the urging, transforming as well as he crouches into a fighting stance.

"What the _**hell**_ were you doing to Stiles?!" Scott angrily snaps, not backing down from the older male, not backing down from his **Alpha**, and Derek is only mildly annoyed because he knows that the boy is only doing this out of some misguided defense on his friend's sake.

"Oh, for God's sake!" An exasperated shout sounds behind them, but Derek and Scott are too busy circling each other to pay much attention to the people around them. This had been a long time coming and Derek hides a bitter smirk at the fact that the final breaking point is acutely **Stiles**, not something much more pressing or life threatening...

"I was trying to do what you decided to put off until the last possible moment," Derek hissed when Scott repeated his demand, knowing that his next few words were going to piss the other boy off from here to the Argent house, but he had been aching for a fight for the past couple of weeks and this was the perfect opportunity to let some of his frustration out. "I was showing him that he is nothing more than a distraction for the werewolves, Kanima, or whatever-the-hell it is that we might be up against and the best thing he can do is book it toward the closest steel-lined room and lock himself inside!"

It is not Scott that strikes him, but Stiles, and Derek is not sure if he is more surprised that the boy had managed to get past his defenses and higher reflexes, or that the boy acutely struck him while he was conscious. He does not have long to wonder this, because Stiles is yelling in his face, one hand being waved in an attempt to dull the pain from striking Derek's jaw.

"Not only is it **not** your job to tell me what to do, or get on Scott's case for not telling me what to do, considering that it isn't **his** job to tell me what to do either, I am perfectly capable of learning how to defend myself if you all finally got it through your wolfy heads that **I**. **Am**. **A**._ **Human**_! I don't have superpowered reflexes or strength, so excuse me for having the rational reaction of wanting to get the hell out of dodge when something nasty growls at me!"

Derek can feel a glow of pride that, despite the fact that Stiles just said that his 'rational' reaction was to run away from something that growls at him; Stiles was still standing there, yelling at him, and he had yet to change back to his human form. Repressing the urge to breathe in the scent of angry, demanding, and altogether **dominating **mate, Derek just takes a step back and reverts to his human side.

"We need to get back to training." is the only thing he says, right as the rest of the Pack manages to catch up with the rest of them, making Derek immensely glad that he had such a steady control over his wolf and hadn't done anything stupid...

With a huff of breath and a muttered curse, Scott and Stiles follow as Derek listens to his wolf complain that he shouldn't let a potential threat to his status as Alpha walk behind him and that he should have his mate in front of him so that he can keep a better eye on him.

Yes, if he ever met whoever thought it was a good idea to make Stiles Stilinski his mate, Derek Hale was going to kill them.

_**Slowly**_.


End file.
